Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord contained in the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded as ever again on the generous and great love which God has shown us, His beloved people and children, in His care and concern for us, and how He has always extended His kindness to us despite all of us having constantly and frequently disobeyed Him and His commandments. God has always been patient in reaching out to us and calling on us to return to Him with contrite heart and with the genuine desire to be forgiven from our many sins and faults. We must not take for granted all the love that God has shown us, and we must always be ready to seek Him wholeheartedly and commit to Him our whole lives, as expected of us as Christians.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Esther, in which the account of the moment when Queen Esther of Persia prayed to the Lord, asking for His help and guidance, has been highlighted to us. For the context, at that time, the people of Israel living in Persia and in other territories of the Persian Empire were facing a lot of difficulties and challenges as they encountered opposition from their enemies, such as in particular one Haman, the Agagite, who was an Amalekite, a sworn enemy of the Israelites. Haman managed to manipulate the Persian King and the laws to favour him and to attempt the elimination of the entire race of the Israelites by framing them for rebellion and disobedience. Therefore, Esther, the Queen of Persia, who was an Israelite herself, prepared herself to face the King and his court, in the attempt to seek mercy and liberation for her people.

What Esther sought to do was very risky and dangerous for her, as she was not allowed or supposed to come to the presence of the King without being invited or asked to do so. Her predecessor, the former Queen Vashti of Persia was deposed and exiled precisely because she disobeyed the King’s command and rule, albeit in the exact opposite, as she refused to come to the King’s presence when he asked her to do so. Esther was her people’s last hope, as without her intercession and effort, the Israelites would surely have been destroyed and eliminated by their enemies, as per the designs of Haman mentioned earlier. And Esther turned her hope to the Lord, as she herself has no one else to turn to, and entrusted herself completely in His hands, believing that God alone can make things work and that He would provide for His people in their hour and time of need.

Esther pleaded before the Lord as we have all heard in our first reading passage today, asking Him to show mercy and kindness to His beloved people, that He would protect and guide them all just as He had once done during the time of the Exodus and then in the subsequent many occasions when He has intervened and shown His providence to His people, the Israelites, despite their disobedience and sins. It is a reminder for us all that we must always have faith and trust in the Lord, believing that He has the power to save us from our predicaments and troubles. We should not abandon Him in search of other sources of fulfilment, satisfaction and providence in our lives, but reaffirm our commitment to Him instead, desiring to love Him wholeheartedly in each and every moments of our lives.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples telling them all to put their faith and trust in God, Who is their loving Father and Creator, the One Who will not disappoint them in the struggles they encounter daily in life. If only they would put their trust and faith in the Lord, then the Lord would provide for them what they needed, and guide them to the right path. This is because as our loving Father, God will definitely not abandon us to harm or destruction, but He will give us what we need at that time and place. And in the case of Queen Esther, God was with her, as He answered her prayers and the prayers of the Israelites, overthrowing the designs and machinations of Haman, who was executed for his crimes and misdeeds, while the Israelites were saved from their fated destruction.

The Lord Jesus highlighted to His disciples, comparing God to a loving father, who will surely not give what is bad and harmful to his children. He will certainly provide for His children with love and attention, giving them our needs, even when we may not be aware of what we actually need in life. God’s love for us is such that we just need to ask Him, and He will answer us. However, many of us do not realise this, and we do not even bother to ask our Lord and Father, preferring to do things our own way, or depending instead on other means to settle our troubles, which may end up leading us into the path of disobedience and sin against God. And many of us may not understand that God may not necessarily answer us in the manner that we want, or give us what we seek or want. After all, He knows best what we need, even when we ourselves may not know what we need.

It is important therefore that we should spend the time during this Lenten season to rediscover the love which we all ought to have for our loving Father, our God Who has always shown us His patient and ever enduring love. All of us should not ignore our loving Father anymore, or neglect our obligations to Him, realising that there are still so many things that we are all supposed to do as God’s beloved and holy people, His children. We should make good use of this time and season of Lent to embark on a journey of reconciliation and repentance, seeking for the Lord, our most loving and compassionate Father to forgive us all of our trespasses, our disobedience and faults, and entrusting ourselves once again to His love and gentle care, so that we may truly be worthy to be called His children and holy people.

May the Lord continue to guide us through this journey of life, and may He help us to persevere through the many challenges present all around us so that we may truly be rooted in Him, and not be easily swayed by the many temptations present around us. May our loving Father continue to provide us all what we need, and help us to endure the various challenges that we may have to encounter in life, so that by His help and guidance, His strength and blessings, we may always walk ever more faithfully in His holy Presence, and strive to be good role models and examples for everyone around us. May God bless us all in each and every one of our good endeavours, now and always. Amen.